Sunlight City
by sunlightcity
Summary: An AU story that takes ideas and concepts that were in the original draft for Zootopia that was a fair amount darker. Nick was a criminal who was forced by society to wear a shock collar as a predator and Judy was more more of an overt bigot since she started on the force knowing about and accepting the prejudice against predators. Characters aren't quite 1 for 1 but I'm trying.
1. Chapter 1

"Dad! Mom! We need to leave some time today!" I called standing at the front door towards the kitchen. I was nervous, excited, anxious, I don't know. After years of dreaming about it, I was finally going to begin my training at the Police Academy. I had been looking forward to this my whole life. I somehow don't think my parents shared the same sentiment because they were taking their very sweet time to get going.

"Oh Judy, you've always been so impatient, we are leaving soon, you're father has just got to take care of some business with your elder siblings before we drive to the academy. On taking care of the farm and your other siblings while we are gone" my mother said coming out of the kitchen. "It'll only take a minute more and then we will be on our way." She looked me over. "I'm so proud of you, you know? We both are. We know you have been working towards this for a good while. I'll admit it wasn't what we really had in mind for you, but you've always been so headstrong, so motivated, we knew we had little chance of changing your mind." She looked a little nervous herself. "However, we want you to know that you have us to talk to whenever you need us. We are always going to be there for you."

I replied "I know Mom. I know."  
At that moment, my dad came down the hall. "Alright," he said, "y'all ready? Let's hit the road."

I grabbed my bags and we stepped out onto the front porch of our house. It was a quaint place, if rather large. It would have to be considering the size of my family. More siblings than I can count. Good thing too, our family runs one of the largest farms in the Burrows. As soon as we were old enough to walk, we helped out on that farm.

Though it's good exercise, it's also really pretty boring, enough so that early on I knew this was not what I wanted to spend my life doing. I was a big fan of movies growing up, and I knew I wanted my life to be exciting like that. Police films caught me the most. Exciting chases, serving out justice to assholes. I wanted to live like that. Speaking assholes…

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM OUR MAILBOX" I yelled as two young foxes started swinging baseball bats at it. They ran away laughing their heads off. "Those stupid foxes, I should go teach them a lesson!" I exclaimed in anger.

My father grabbed my shoulder "Judy, it's not worth bothering with, it's just a mailbox."

"Just a mailbox?" I shot back, "They keep pulling stunts like this every week! Slashing the truck tires, tampering with the water system, spray painting the supply shed? Why do you let the Greys walk over us like that? If you would just put your foot down, we might be able to get some peace!"

The Greys were a large family of Foxes that lived on the other side of the Burrows. They ran a farm of their own, and as long as I can remember they had been harassing us. My parents had given up trying to stop them since the local cops were too lazy to try to put a stop to their actions. And thus my parents just started lying down and letting them pull all sorts of stunts. My anger at the Greys and my frustration with my parents was a large part I think of why I wanted to join the force. I was tired of living with the injustice they inflicted on us week after week. I for the most part had just learned to grudgingly live with it, but perhaps with the excitement of what today meant I took it more personally this time.

"All the pranks those kids do are rarely that big of a deal. There is no point getting mad about every small thing that happens." my mom said calmingly. "Let's just pretend we didn't see anything and head on our way, you don't want to let them ruin today for you do you?"

She was right. I wasn't going to let the Greys ruin today for me. I was finally getting out of this place. I was finally going to be an officer. And I was finally going to move to Sunshine City. I knew I had months to go before I graduated from the academy, but at the same time, I just couldn't wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Man, its hot today. Sucks just standing around all day selling these DVDs, but its easy money.

"Hey there ma'am! Would you like to take a look at the movies I've got on sale today? I swear they are the genuine movies, fresh off the factory presses. And I've got great prices too. 2 movies for 10 bucks, surely you aren't gonna find a deal like that anywhere else! No? Alright ma'am you have a good day. Hello there sir!"

It was a tiring routine, but not completely fruitless, the movies did sell, but it was a very tedious job. But it was extra money in my pocket, so who can complain? Well, I can think of a few people.

"Hello there Nick. Working hard?"

Oh boy, it's the pigs again. Literally.

"Hello there Officer Bullkowski! Officer Pigsley! What can I can I do for you on this fine day?" I said, even though I already knew the answer the moment they walked up.

"Selling your bootlegs again Nick? You were warned last time to cut this out." one of the officers said.

Adopting an injured tone of voice, I reply "Officers, I'm hurt. I'm a legitimate businessman. All these movies here are the real deal, not like those crappy Avian mockups that keep circulating. If I had a DVD player here, I could show you for myself."

The officers responded "Nice try fox, but it ain't working. We are going to have to confiscate these movies. And the money you've earned from selling this contraband."

Well it wasn't unexpected but it was definitely a setback. "Surely you can let me keep the money," I asked, "it's not like you are going to be able to find the people I sold to. And I do need that money, I've gotta pay the bills somehow."

The other officer scoffed. "That's hardly our problem fox. You should be happy we aren't taking more drastic measures. But I'm warning you, if we find you doing this again, we are gonna haul you back to the station. Got it?"

I sighed. "Got it officer."  
It was frustrating to have wasted half of a day with no profits to show for it, but I had trained myself to not let such things get to me. That's the kind of skill that every predator in Sunshine City has to acquire. Mainly because the city kept us all on a rather tight leash. Literally.

At a very young age, all predators are legally required to wear special collars that are designed to "reign in our barbaric predatory instincts" or some BS. In practice that means if we experience raised levels of anger or aggression, our collars give us a rather painful shock. I'd like to say it's something you eventually get used to, but that would be a lie. It hurts like the devil every time.

Though 20 years of experience has generally conditioned me to keep my emotions in check. Nowadays the troubles of life roll off me like water off a duck's back. Because honestly who has the energy to let themselves get angry about stupid shit? Recently in the news I've been seeing plenty of stories about predators' rights protests and I wonder why even bother? It's not like they will change anything. No point investing like that. All it will lead to is just more anger and more disappointment. My philosophy is just to accept what already is, keep your head down, and make the best of it. And possibly make some money in the process. I like to think I achieve both with my real job.

You see, I am the proud and distinguished owner of a rather exclusive club called Wilde Times. It's one of the biggest clubs among predators in the city. However I am very selective about the clientele considering the place's legality is rather iffy for one reason. The very reason it's so popular amongst predators in fact. Aside from drinks, it is also a place that predators can indulge in their predator instincts, things like hunting, stalking, maiming, etc. All with dummies of course, it's not THAT shady.

But how can such a place be with our shock collars? It just so happens I have a special contact who aside from being my booze supplier, managed to find me a rather nifty device that disables collars inside the premises of the club. He never told me exactly how he got it and I never asked, but it was a Godsend to getting this place running.

However, considering that this would be very illegal, as I said I am rather selective about who gets invitations to the club, don't want someone blabbing about it to the wrong ears. And for double the precaution, I chose to set up the club in Happytown, which has been mostly abandoned ever since the riots 20 years ago. The police generally don't come around here so I generally don't have to worry about them busting down the doors.

I've been running this joint for a good 5 years now, and business has been good. I've built up a solid supply of regulars and I've made good money off the place. Aside from some of the everyday crap predators gotta deal with, life has been alright so far. At least I like to think it has. So yeah, I just keep my head down and enjoy what I got. Not like anything life changing is gonna happen, right?


	3. Chapter 3

Oh my God. I'm finally on my way to Sunshine City! I can't believe it. I especially can't believe how fast training went. Those months flew by and before I knew it I was a Police Academy Graduate. Near the top of my class too! My parents were so proud, they were crying the entirety of the graduation ceremony. I know they were, and still are, nervous about me entering the force, but they seemed so happy, it just made the whole experience even greater. My whole family threw me a going away party, it was amazing. They invited all my friends from the town and there was lots of food and it was just a perfect going away party.  
Well almost perfect. Some of the Greys decided to crash the party. Luckily they didn't pull anything dramatic, they just showed up. Leading the pack was Gideon, I can't believe had the nerve to show his face like that after what he did last year.

I was about to go over and beat his stupid ass, but my father begged me to just let it go. He and some of my elder brothers went over and asked them to leave, and it seemed the Greys weren't looking for a fight that night, so they simply left. I was a little confused why they came at all, Gideon gave me an odd look as he left but I tried to push it out of my mind. I wasn't going to let the stupid Greys ruin my last night at home with my family and friends.

Early next morning as my family watched, I hopped on a train and began the ride I had looked forward to my whole life. I was finally going to Sunshine City. I was finally going to be an Officer. Oh my God. I can't believe it's finally happening!

It was a long train ride, so I slept most of the way. But as we neared the city, I decided to get a better looks, so I went up to the second floor of the train where there was a clearer view. As the city came into view, my jaw dropped. It was amazing! It was massive, and even from here I could tell that it was varied. In training they told us about how the city had multiple districts to accommodate various types of animals. There was a desert district, and arctic district, a jungle district, and multiple normal city districts for all the animals that don't have special needs. I wondered where I would be assigned. All of the options sounded exciting.

When I got out of the train station, I took a cab to the district where my new apartment was at. As the driver, a black bear, helped me put my bags in the trunk, I noticed that he had a collar on his neck. I had read about those collars. Personally from what I've read, they seemed like a logical idea to me. Predators who give into their instincts can be a hazard to all. They don't have the collars back in the Burrows, but I can think of at least one family that I would like to see in them. Anyway, I got in the cab with the bear. He was pretty nice and polite and we had a nice talk on the way over. He told me that he had moved here recently because he needed a job and his cousin had an opening for him. He said he didn't care much for the collar, but what can you do? I told him I felt they were in everyone's best interest, predator and prey alike, that they kept everyone safer. He simply shrugged at this but he was less talkative after that. I suppose that was kind of rude for me to say, but I think it's true. I reached my new apartment and got settled in. It was small but I didn't exactly have a huge budget to spend, so it would be fine for now.

The next day I arrived at the police station in uniform early. I wanted to make a good first impression. I walked up to the front desk where a rather, uh, large cheetah was watching a video on his phone. "Hello? Hello?" I called to him. He was pretty distracted. I noticed he too had a collar around his neck. "HELLO?"

He jumped, apparently just noticing me for the first time. "Oh wow, I'm sorry," he said apologetically, "I was just watching this new music video that came out, it was very good. You like Gazelle?" He seemed like something of a character.

"Yeah, I like her alright. I prefer more country type music, but I have some of her music." I replied quickly, "Anyway, I'm Judy Hopps, I've just been assigned to this station."

He suddenly looked excited. "You're Judy? The new rabbit officer? I've been waiting to meet you, I couldn't believe that they were actually assigning a rabbit to our precinct, my name is Benjamin Clawhauser, but you can just call be Clawhauser, everyone does."

Grinning, I said "Alright Clawhauser, can you show me where the meeting room is?"

He pointed over to a door across the lobby and said "Oh, it's over there. Meeting doesn't start for like 30 minutes though."

I began walking towards the door he gestured towards as I said "Oh, that's fine, I want to be early on my first day." So I walked through the door, found a seat and sat down. I checked my phone while I was waiting, I noticed my mom had sent me a text message reminding me to call her later that night after work. I texted back that I would. Then I surfed the web for about 15 minutes.

At this point, other officers began to come in slowly, talking amongst themselves. I noticed some of them were predators with collars, a few lions and tigers and bears. But most were prey animals. Though prey would be somewhat misleading as none of them were weak looking. Elephants and boars and Hippos and the like. None of them seemed to notice me as they took their places.

About another 15 minutes later the chief walked in. He was a rather aggressive looking buffalo, and when he spoke, it was in a gruff voice. "Alright, pay attention. I've got your orders for today. Forrester, you're team is patrolling Main Square. Langston, your team is handling the Jungle district, Bearstein, your team is…" He went on and on, giving out orders until I was the last one without orders.

"And finally, we have Judy Hopps, our newest recruit. You are assigned to patrol Happytown." Happytown? That couldn't be right. I had read up on the history of Sunlight City, Happytown was mostly abandoned after the riots that happened years ago, surely I wouldn't get assigned to such a dead beat would I?

"Um chief?" I said as he turned to leave, "Sir? Are you sure that's correct sir? Happytown is mostly abandoned, nobody goes there anymore."

He turned back to me and said "Yes, I know, that's why I'm putting you there." He turned back around to leave.

I spoke up again "But Chief sir, why would you put me there? That's a waste of time. I could be put to better use somewhere else."

Once again he turned and looked at me with a glare in his eye. "I'm not going to lie Hopps. I didn't want you in my precinct but higher ups wanted to increase diversity of species in the force, so they stuck me with you. Now if I could, I would put you on meter maid duty or something, but unfortunately that's not how it works, so instead I am just going to put you out of the way where you can't cause any problems. Now you have you're orders. Go to them." And he left me standing there, lost for words.

I can't believe I got assigned to Happytown of all places. This place is a complete dead end. I thought "You know, maybe I will get lucky and stumble upon a drug ring or something", but no such luck. I patrolled for the whole day without single incident. Hell, the amount of people I saw the entire day could be counted on two hands.

I tried to have a positive outlook on the situation. Maybe this is just a test, maybe he does this to all new recruits. So I came back the next day, got orders to patrol Happytown again, and did my job. It was boring, but I figured maybe if I stuck with it, he would see I am dedicated enough to be put somewhere else. But after a week of nothing happening, I got impatient and decided to confront him again.

"Sir, I feel that my potential is really going to waste here. I was one of the top members in my class at the academy, I feel I could be put to better use elsewhere in the city."

He chuckled at this and said "Well, if that's the case, why don't you catch a criminal for me? Surely it won't be that hard if you are as good as you say you are. Let's say if you are able to catch someone, I will consider assigning you to another part of town. But good luck with that."

I couldn't believe it. He really was just leaving me to rot in Happytown. Glumly, I started my rounds in that dismal abandoned place, contemplating whether I had made a big mistake moving here. Maybe Mom and Dad were right, perhaps I should have just stayed on the farm.

I suddenly was snapped out of my pity party when I heard the sound of a truck nearby. I went in the sound's direction until I found a truck running with a short fennec in a collar sitting in the front seat shouting at someone to hurry up. Then I saw a brown furred Fox in a cheap looking shirt and kakis, also collared, walk out of the back of the truck carrying some boxes. What were they doing here? It looked rather suspicious.

My heart began to soar. Perhaps this was the bust I was waiting for. I began to walk towards the fox.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hurry up Nick, I got other places to be ya know!" I hear my supplier Fennick shout from the driver's seat of the truck.

"Yeah yeah, keep your pants on, I'm almost done". I shout back as I carry the last of the crates off the back of the truck. I set them down and then walk to the driver's window where a short grouchy fennec was waiting for me. I guess his parents had a bad sense of humor when it came to names. "Patience really is a virtue you know." I said as I pull out my wallet and hand him what I owe for the shipment.

"Whatever Wilde. I got places to be, besides it looks like you've got a guest." With that he drives away as I turn around to see who he is talking about. Next to the crates is a short grey furred rabbit dressed in a police uniform staring at me. I've never seen her before, I wonder if she's new.

"Hello officer, what can I do for you today?" I ask as I walk over to her.

She keeps staring at me with an odd look and says "My name is Officer Judy Hopps, I was just wondering what the contents of these boxes you have here are." Oh boy, here we go. It's not the first time this has happened, cops always seem to assume I'm up to something whenever they see me with merchandise. Even though the club itself isn't quite legal, I make sure to keep all my licenses to run it on hand and up to date so I can keep cops off my back. I figure she must just be trying to get some credit in her department and thought I'd be an easy target.

"Well Mrs. Hopps, if you must know, I run a night club here, and I have all the documents I need to do so right here." I pull them out of my pocket and show them to her. "And if you must know all I have in here is just various liquors. Completely legal, and I'll even let you look inside if you must." I gesture her towards the crates. She opens one of the crates, pulls out a bottle, looks it over, then places it back in the crate and sighs. "What? Expecting drugs or something?"

She looks at me with a frown. "Was hoping for something like that." she mutters.

Oh boy, another anti-fox type. "I expect you think foxes are all shifty criminals or something right?"  
She looked surprised. A few seconds later she somewhat nervously says "Well, not ALL foxes, just…"

"Just the shifty criminal looking ones huh?" She looks rather uncomfortable now. "I understand though. You see a fox in the middle of the abandoned part of the city unloading boxes, you're first thought is 'He must be doing something illegal'. Heck, in your shoes I'd probably think the same thing. But in this case, I assure you that it's all completely legal."

She turns around begins to walk away. I assume she's just running away with her little tail between her legs, when suddenly she turns around and walks back. "I'm really sorry. This wasn't right. I really jumped the gun here. I'm just having issues with my job. I'm new in town and I keep getting stationed out here in the middle of nowhere, and I was just hoping to finally get some action. But I should be better than this. I usually am. So I'm really sorry." And with that she turned again and began walking away.  
I'm not quite sure why I did it, maybe I felt bad for her but I called out "Hey, Officer." She stopped suddenly and slowly turned around as I walked towards her. "Judy right? Hey look, I'm sorry about this too. Look, you said you were new in town right? Let me take you to lunch. I bet you don't know any good places and I know this one food joint that's got the best pizzas on this side of Sunlight City. It's about time for lunch after all. Lemme just take these crates downstairs and we can go, what do you say?"

She looked a bit hesitant at first but then grinned and said "Sure, I'd like that a lot."


	5. Chapter 5

Well, this wasn't how I was expecting my day to go. I rashly accused a fox of dealing in illegal goods and now he's taking me to lunch. What an odd guy. If I were him I probably would have told myself to go take a hike. He didn't have a car so we took my squad car to the Jungle district.

"You know, I don't think I've ever been in the front seat of a cop car before, I think I could get used to this." He says while messing with the police radio. "Anything good on here?"

"Please don't touch the radio, I need to be able to hear if anything comes up." I say a little nervously.

"Oh come on Judy, you are taking this too seriously, try to loosen up a bit." He says smirking at me.

"Fine, I'll try." I say, sighing to myself. "But seriously, don't touch the radio." He quickly pulls his hand back. He seems to be enjoying himself.

"Over there on the left, see it? It's Mama Shrew's Pizzaria. This place is great." We pull into the parking lot and get out of the car.  
I tell him "I'm not exactly a pizza affictionado, back home all we had was Dom Dingos Pizza"

He makes a pained face and says "Oooh, nothing but chain pizza? That's sad, well this will be a welcome change of pace for you I expect."

As we walk up to the front door of the place, out comes an elephant and wolf dressed in police uniform, two of my coworkers. "Officer Hopps, what are you doing here? I seem to remember your patrol is over in Happytown." the elephant says with a sneer.  
"Am I not allowed to get lunch Officer Tusks? Not exactly many restaurants over there are there?" I respond in an annoyed tone.

He raises his arms in mock apology. "Sorry, sorry, it's just there's a fox with you, so I assumed maybe you two were up to something. Something shady perhaps."  
"Are you for real?" I say angrily, "He's just showing me a place to eat. And if you don't mind, we are going in now."

He shrugs and walks by, bumping into Nick hard, knocking him over. The wolf, who stayed silent the entire time looks at me apologetically, but says nothing as he follows after his partner.

I help Nick to his feet as he says "Wow, not like I'm really surprised, but your coworkers are assholes. Do you get that every day?"

Frowning slightly, I say "Not really no. In fact I'm pretty sure that's the first time any of them besides the front desk guy and my boss have actually talked to me. They usually just pretend I don't exist."

"Huh," Nick says, "Wonder what his problem is."

"Never mind him, let's just get lunch." I say. He nods and we go inside.

We are seated at a booth, and a waitress takes our drink order. I just have water, he has Coca-Koala. While waiting for our drinks, he asks me "So you said you were new in town right? Where are you from then?"  
I tell him, "The Burrows, about 300 miles west of here." He chuckles at hearing this

"The Burrows? Really? I suppose you come from a family of carrot farmers then?" he says smirking.  
"Not just carrots, all sorts of crops. Berries, tomatoes, lettuce, all sorts of stuff" He begins to laugh even more. "What?" I say defensively.  
"Nothing, nothing, it's just that's such a rabbit thing to do. Farming and all that." He says smiling. "So stereotypical. Though I suppose you are breaking that mold, aren't you Officer Judy?"  
I smirk back "Yeah, I suppose so. I suppose we both are. I'm not a farmer, and you aren't a petty criminal…shit." He looks surprised. I feel my cheeks going hot. "Dammit Nick, I'm sorry, that just came out wrong." But to my surprise he's smiling again.  
"Ha, don't worry about it. Didn't I tell you to lighten up? I ribbed you about the farmer thing, I can take what I give." At this I feel better about it. At this convenient point, the waitress returns with our drinks and asks if we are ready to order.

I am still looking at my menu when Nick says "I'll just have a plain cheese pizza." Plain, really?

I look up and say "I'll have sliced carrots on my pizza please." We thank the waitress and she leaves. Moments after Nick is laughing again.

"Carrot pizza Judy? Really? God you are such a rabbit!" He says through his laughter.  
I counter back "What about you? Cheese pizza? I know you gotta pay extra for every topping you add, but are you that much of a cheapskate?" He laughs even more at this. Pretty quickly I find myself laughing too.

It feels nice, it's the best I've felt ever since I arrived. Nick isn't so bad really. About an hour later we are back in the squad car, driving back to Happytown when I say "Hey Nick, you said you run a club right? Would it be cool if I stopped in some night this weekend? I'd love to see it."  
I look over and see that he suddenly looks uncomfortable. He says "Uh, I'm not sure that's really the best idea. You see, I serve mainly predators. And given the current climate of the city, they might be uncomfortable with a Prey animal hanging out in the bar. And it would just be awkward for you, I'm not really sure you'd enjoy yourself."  
"Oh." I muttered. I had to admit I was pretty disappointed about this.

Perhaps picking up on this, he said "How about this instead? I'm free on Sundays, how about we go get dinner then and go see a movie? I hear that Jack Savage movie was supposed to be really good."

"Sure, it's a deal." I say. I dropped him off back at his club and proceeded to continue my eventless patrol. That night I called my parents and talked to them for the first time in a week. They said they were worried since I hadn't checked in at all since my first night here, but I assured them that everything was alright. Not perfectly true perhaps, but I was feeling the best I had since I arrived in Sunlight City. I couldn't help but feel excited for this Sunday. I had made a friend finally. With a fox of all animals!

But then, for a fox, he seemed pretty alright.


	6. Chapter 6

"Nick…hey Nick. Nick!" I looked up in surprise. I was in the back office of my club checking my phone. Sitting in a chair on the opposite side of my desk was Fennick. "You were spacing out Nick."

I had been texting Judy about our next lunch date. It had been about a month since we had first met, and we seemed to be getting along pretty well as far as I could tell. We were actually planning to meet tomorrow. She said one of her co-workers who actually talked to her had recommended her a good place, so we were going to check it out.

"Sorry Fennick, just making plans." I put my phone away. "So where were we?"

"You owe me for the shipment I brought tonight." He said shortly. He seemed a bit antsy for some reason.  
"Oh yeah, I gotta thank you for getting it here so last minute, those drinks are a favorite amongst a lot of my regulars, and we practically out. I can't believe I let my stock get that low." I said as I pulled out my wallet to pay him. "And as busy as we are tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if they are already opening them out there. So here you go." I leaned over to give him the money, but for some reason he looked shocked.  
"You…you think you might be serving it already?" he said quietly.

"Uh… yeah, possibly. It's a pretty busy Friday." I said, wondering why this was such a big deal, and still holding out his money. He grabbed it quickly and stood up.  
"Hey Nick, I gotta go." He was already walking towards the door of my office.  
"Why you gotta go so fast? Stay and have a drink, we haven't really been able to chat much lately."

"No, I think I should really be leaving now." He said standing next to the door. He was acting rather odd, I couldn't figure out why he was in such a hurry to leave. But I didn't have more time to consider that matter because a moment later screams began to erupt from the other side of the door. Fennick jumped, as though his shock collar had gone off. And moments later there was just the sounds of complete chaos. Fennick opened the door to look outside a bit, then slammed it shut, leaning against it.  
"Fennick, what's going on out there?" I said, striding over to the door. Fennick looked horrified.  
"Don't open the door Nick, its chaos out there! Looks like some of your customers were attacking others!"  
"Well then get out of the way! I gotta help put a stop to that, it's my club!" I shouted, grabbing a baseball bat that was leaning on the wall near the door. However Fennick just shook his head.  
"No, Nick, I don't think you wanna go out there, it's not what you think. It's-"

At that moment there was a huge BANG at the door. Fennic looked shocked for a second, but then began to sigh a breath of relief before the door burst open, sending him sprawling to the floor.  
"FENNICK!" I shouted, looking over to him, I looked up and in the doorway was a tiger. But something was wrong. She was on all 4s and looked almost, well, feral. Something about the look in her eye made me shiver to my bones.

But before I could do anything, she pounced on Fennick and started tearing at him. I was frozen in shock, all I could do was watch as he was mauled by this…this…bloodthirsty animal. It was like nothing I had seen before.  
A second later I came back to my senses and ran at her, taking a swing at her head with the bat in my hand. It collided with her face, creating a loud CRACK and set her off balance onto her side. I took a step back and readied myself for her to get back up. As she did, she took one look at me and I nearly froze in fear again. Her face was covered in blood, and I wasn't sure how much of it was her own and how much was Fennick's. She began to charge at me, giving me only moments to set up another swing. I swung my arms, twisting my body, as hard as I could, hoping that I would be able to connect with her head again.  
CRACK! She went backwards head over heels and did not get up again.  
I dropped the bat and hurried over to Fennick. Jesus, he was a mess. He was breathing, but there was blood everywhere. I had no idea what to do, but knew we couldn't stay here. I quickly looked out the doorway to see if the coast was clear. It seemed quiet outside for the moment, so I grabbed Fennick from under his arms and began to drag him towards the exit of the club.  
We were halfway across the club when he began to stir. "Nick…Nick is that you?"  
"Quiet Fennick, I've got you, I'm gonna get you help." I said, though I had no idea if I would be able to back up these words.  
"No, Nick I gotta tell you something. You didn't deserve this." I had no idea what he was trying to tell me. Why would I deserve this? Where does deserving even come into the picture here?  
"Its fine Fennick, its all fine. Now just stay calm and I'm gonna get you out of here."  
He weakly said "No, Nick. Listen to me. This is all my fault. I've got to tell you now." His fault? What does he mean?  
"I was blackmailed, they found out I got you the collar disrupter and they forced me to bring you the drinks I brought tonight…"  
"What…what do you mean? I asked you to get me those drinks." I said. He shook his head.  
"No, they were not quite what you ordered. They were laced with something, I don't know what. All I know was that they forced me to give you the bad drinks or else they would have me arrested."  
"I don't understand. Who told you this? Who were they?" I asked, unable to keep the horror out of my voice.  
"I don't know, I've never met them before and I think one of them, an elephant, was a cop, but they had evidence against me and I was scared Nick, I'm so sorry but I was really sc-*Cough cough cough*" Oh God, he was coughing up blood now. He looked really messed up. "Nick, I was to go to a meeting tomorrow night to get the evidence and be cleared of all this, but I don't think I'm gonna be making it there." He grimaced. "So I figure the least I can do is send you in his direction. Maybe he can help you figure out whats going on. Consider it my *cough* apology for ruining your life."

"Fennick, you are going to get through this, just stop talking and-"

He held up a hand to stop me. "Just listen. Go to the warehouse district in the Tundra tomorrow at midnight. The guy you are looking for is a moose who will be wearing a blue and white collared shirt. That's all I got for you Nick." He was very pale and his clothes were scarlet with blood, getting all over mine as well. His last words were a weak "Well, that and I am sorry Nick." Then he just lay there.  
I couldn't believe it. My mind was buzzing, uncomprehending anything that had just happened. I had known Fennick for years. I'd never expect him to betray me like this. And now he was dead.

Dead…I couldn't believe it at all. What the hell was happening? What the hell was up with that tiger? Who would do this? Why? These thoughts looped in my mind. I was completely oblivious to everything else aside from the dead fennec in front of me and everything that had just happened. And so I didn't notice as someone crept up behind me.  
"Nick! Nick, what happened?" I spun around. Standing there looking shocked was Judy.


	7. Chapter 7

I was sitting in my patrol car, another boring day on the job. I was waiting to hear back from Nick about lunch tomorrow. Clawhauser had recommended a neat diner that was in Central Square. I had had become friends with Clawhauser over the past month. He was definitely an odd guy, but he was always happy to see me and very talkative, so I was hardly going to turn down his kindness. Especially considering so far nothing had changed with everyone else. The asshat of an elephant that had harassed me and Nick at Mama Shrew's hadn't said another word to me since then. It was kind of confusing but I wasn't going to worry about it.

My phone beeped, I picked it up and saw that Nick had agreed to the idea. Well that was settled then. I leaned back in the squad car. Not much else to do really. It was past 10pm and the place is basically dead anyway. I yawned and closed my eyes. Maybe I'd take a nap. Not like anyone at the precinct would care. Suddenly I heard something unexpected. It sounded like screams.  
"This is Officer Judy, I'm calling in to report some sort of disturbance in Happytown."  
The radio crackled "I'm sorry, say that again?"  
"I said there's some sort of disturbance going on in Happytown. I am going to investigate."

"Alright then, good luck with that." crackled the radio. Guess they assumed it must not be anything serious. I probably wouldn't believe it either if not for what I was hearing. I stepped out of the squad car and started to move towards the sounds in the distance. To my surprise, about 5 animals ran around the corner of a block and kept running in all directions. I ran up and tried to stop one to see what was going on, but they wouldn't stop, they just kept running. I pulled out my taser (I don't know why I didn't grab my gun, perhaps just trying to calm myself to avoid creating an unnecessary situation? Didn't want my first big event to end with me shooting someone dead) and ran around the corner. To my shock, there were more animals roaming the streets, but something was off about them. From a distance I could tell they were more…animalistic…than usual, they were walking on all 4s for whatever reason. I didn't understand. No animals have gone feral in generations. It's something we evolved out of. Predators wear the collars to reign in the residual elements of said instincts, but to go full feral is just unbelievable! Speaking of collars, why weren't their collars working? I could see from a distance that they were still on, but I could also see some of the animals had blood stains on their faces and arms. If they were active, they should be shocked into submission, so why weren't they?  
It hit me I should probably stop thinking about this and move lest one of them see me. I stuck along the dark edges of the buildings, trying to avoid walking into the light of the streetlamps that were still working. In the meantime, I couldn't help but wonder "Where did they come from?" This place is generally abandoned.  
Then it hit me. Nick's club must be around here. Could it have happened there? Was he okay? Now I was really nervous. I hastened my pace a bit, making my way down the street. But dammit, I can't see very well in the dark, and wouldn't you know it, I accidentally stepped on an old beer can. I froze, hoping to God none of them heard me. I slowly turned around, and to my horror, I saw a pair of eyes glowing in the dark, staring right at me.

Without a moment to lose, I began to run. I ran as fast as I could down the street, hoping that none of the others were following me as well. I looked behind me and saw that the animal, a panther black enough to blend into the night if not for the bright shirt he was wearing, was gaining on me. I ducked right into an alley way and saw that there was a fence ahead. I took a running jump at the wall next to the fence and then used the momentum to jump off the wall over the gate. I landed and turned around, the panther was having trouble climbing over. I readied my taser, but my arms were shaking, I could barely keep a straight bead. As he landed on the ground, I fired.

And I missed. Shit shit shit. I dropped the taser and reached for my gun. Withdrawing it as I backed away, I aimed it towards the predator that was walking towards me with a slow pace, as though preparing to strike. I aimed my gun straight at his head, but my arms were still shaking. And I didn't know if I could pull the trigger. I kept backing up, hoping some sort of miracle would happen to keep me from doing what I was about to do. Focusing too much on what was in front of me, I lost my footing and fell to the ground. The panther took this opportunity and charged towards me. I tried to raise the gun in time to shoot-

A roar of pain spilled into the night. The panther fell to the ground, writhing in apparent agony. I didn't understand though, I hadn't pulled the trigger or done anything. What had happened? I then noticed that the light that had been previously out before on the collar had turned on, shining green. Had it turned back on? How? I was completely confused at this turn of events, but I wasn't about to waste it. I grabbed the mic off my belt.

"This is Officer Judy Hopps, there is a serious situation going on down her in Happytown. I don't understand why or how, but it seems multiple predators have gone…have gone feral. They are aggressive and attacking anyone who gets in their way."  
The radio crackled in my ear. "Feral? That's not possible."  
"I assure you, it's definitely happening. I was just attacked by one of them and barely escaped with my life."

"Well we are sending units over to you, stay out of sight until they arrive."  
"I'm going to check on a friend who owns a business in the area, I want to make sure he is okay."  
"Negative. Stay out of sight until back up arrives. We don't want you getting yourself killed Hopps so I repeat. Stay out of sight until back up arrives. Understood?"  
"…Understood." Dammit! Nick could be in trouble right now. He could be hurt or worse…no, I can't just sit around here waiting for them to show up, who knows how long that'll take. The club is near here, so I am going to go check it out.

I take one last look at the panther, who seems to have passed out, and climb back over the fence I had jumped earlier. I edge out into the street to make sure the coast is clear, then break into a run towards the club. Nick's gotta be alright. He has to…

A minute later, I arrive at the entrance to the place. The door has been torn off the hinges and the surrounding area is quiet as a ghost. I pull out my pistol again and slowly step through the entrance. All that is in front of me is a long staircase.

"Nick?" I call out while listening hard for any noises. "Nick? Are you there Nick? Are you okay?" I reach the bottom step and open the swinging door leading into the heart of the club. Immediately, I see Nick, kneeling over a body, not moving.

"Nick! Nick, what happened?" He spun around and looked at me. Jesus, he looked terrible. He was covered in blood and had a rather glazed look in his eyes. It was unsettling. "Nick! Holy shit, are you okay? Is this your blood?" I cried as I rushed over to him.  
"No…no," he said slowly, "this isn't mine its…" he turned slowly back to the body. I got a better look over his shoulder and let out a small gasp. It was the fennec driver who had brought Nick his drinks.

"Nick, I'm sorry." I said softly, putting my hand on his shoulder. It was at this point I noticed that Nick's collar was turned off, just like the collars of the predators outside. The light on the side, normally a bright green, was out. "Nick…why is your collar off?" He quickly looked at me, and I could see fear in his eyes. "Did it get damaged?" I asked. He looked at me a moment, then nodded his head and looked away.

"Well that's not your fault then, we will just get it fixed back up, just like your bar I suppose." I said as I looked up to survey the damage. It was pretty bad. There were chairs flipped over, tables destroyed, a lot of drinks behind the bar were smashed. A curtain shredded near the back.  
Wait, a curtain? What was behind it? I walked over to it and pulled it aside. I had no idea what to make of what I saw. There were animal manikins all over the place. Most of them had scratches and tears all over them. Though I couldn't figure out why they were here, I assumed maybe the damage had been done by the feral predators. But then I noticed that many of them had been clearly sewn up many times. What was going on here?  
"Nick? What is this Nick? What's going on here?" I said turning back to Nick. He looked very nervous.  
"Look, this looks bad, real bad, but I need you to know that regardless of what you are seeing here, I am not responsible for this. My customers going feral, Fennick…dying, this isn't my fault!"

"But what is this Nick? What are those manikins for?" I asked, walking back towards him. He looked away. "Nick!" He said nothing.

"That's enough Officer Hopps." said a booming voice. I quickly turned towards the entrance. Standing there was Officer Tusks with his partner the wolf and 2 more pairs of officers. "I think we can handle things from here."  
"I was handling things fine before you showed up." I retorted angrily. "Nick… Mr. Wilde here was telling me what had happened here when the commotion started." I said as I walked towards them away from Nick.

"Well perhaps Mr. Wilde would like to tell us why his collar is currently deactivated." Officer Tusk said in a tone of mock curiosity. Nick opened his mouth, to speak but I cut in.

"Mr. Wilde's collar was damaged after an attack by one of the feral animals that murdered his business partner. He will be willing to have it repaired after we make sure he is fully okay."

Officer Tusk smirked. "Damaged is it? Funny, on our way here we rounded up multiple feral predators and found that some of their collars were disabled as well." Something occurred to me. The collar of the panther that nearly killed me earlier was also disabled, if it hadn't turned back on…

"But hey, that could just be a coincidence." Officer Tusk went on. "Just a simple misunderstanding. But I can't quite figure out how to explain away the fact that they all came from this club, the club Mr. Wilde apparently runs." I felt my insides go cold. Was Nick really responsible for this? I turned towards him. He looked defiant.

"It just so happens that a certain…tip," something in Nick's face changed. I don't know what it was, was it fear? "led us believe that a device that disables predator collars was smuggled out to Happytown. We had been unable to find it before now, but now it all makes sense." Tusk began to walk towards the curtain.  
"So what is behind here then?" He wrenched the curtain open to reveal the manikins. "Looks to me like a den for predators to indulge their hunting urges." He smirked again. "So I suppose I will just have to place Mr. Wilde under arrest."

"Under arrest?" I asked quietly. Nick looked horrified.  
"Yes, for illegal disabling of predator collars, running an illegal hunting den, and…" he looked over at the dead body, "manslaughter. Officer Hopps, cuff him."  
I wasn't sure what to do. I trust Nick. I believe in him. Surely this is all a misunderstanding right? Surely Nick isn't actually a criminal. But all of this does seem to be pointing at him. And if his actions led to predators reverting to their savage ways, to the death of an innocent, could I really let that go?

"Officer Hopps? I said cuff him."  
"…Yes sir." I began to walk towards Nick while taking out my cuffs. He spoke for the first time since the cops arrived.  
"Judy… Judy please, you've got to believe me. This isn't my fault, I told you that! I need you to listen to me! Please!" I ignored his plea as I put the first cuff on his arm. His face darkened. I was preparing to put the second cuff on when suddenly he backhanded me across the face! Reeling from this, I was unable to stop him from groping at my belt. Before I realized it he had put the other cuff on my arm, pulled me up to standing, and put something against my head. I realized my gun was gone from its holster.  
"Move away! Move aside right now! Ms. Hopps and I are leaving right now and we are leaving alone!

But it all seemed pointless. There were now 6 officers, all with their guns aiming straight at us. They wouldn't shoot us, at least I don't think they would with me as a human shield, but I wasn't sure Nick believed that. I could feel him shaking behind me, possibly trying to decide what to do.

However, at that very moment, out of a side room, a tiger burst out and charged at Officer Tusk. The surprise of her appearance distracted all of the other officers, and I guess Nick decided to take his chance and run.

He pulled me towards the entrance of the bar, but I wasn't about to let him escape like this.  
"Come on Judy! Come on! We've got to leave!"  
"No, I am not going with you, not like this!" I struggled with him, he was bigger than me, but I was more in shape. I figured I only had to slow him down for a minute, and then the other officers would come and stop him from escaping.

Perhaps he felt the same way because a moment later he said "I'm sorry Judy." I only had a moment to process this before he struck my forehead with the butt of the pistol.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm sorry Judy." And with that I brought the butt of her pistol down on her head. She collapsed and I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder and sprinted up the stairs. Shit. Shit shit shit. SHIT! I can't believe this is happening! I need to find a building to hide out in. And then I can explain everything to Judy. She didn't deserve this. Didn't deserve to get caught up in this. I know I'm being selfish here but I need to make her understand.  
But first I need to find a place to hide. I'm not sure how much time is left before my collar reactivates and I can't afford to get in a fight with the cops. But I also can't let myself get arrested. Not with that elephant in charge. God, he must have been one of Fennick's blackmailers. Fennick mentioned an elephant before he died, if that's him, who knows what he has in store for me. I can't let him of all cops catch me now.  
I made my way to one of my hideouts in Happytown. I know the place like the back of my hand, so I know basically every building by heart. I decided to stop at an abandoned restaurant. The front door was made of glass, and it had been shattered, who knows how long ago. I stepped through the broken door and found a booth to set Judy down at.

I set the gun down on the table so I could take a look at Judy's head. Well, it definitely looked like it was gonna bruise, looked kind of painful, but otherwise she seemed alright.

I scooted over away from her, but then the cuff around my arm tightened. Dammit, we are still cuffed together aren't we? I decided it might not be the best time to pat her down to find the damn key, so I decided to just lean back in the seat and cool down for a second. Closing my eyes, I reflected on everything that had happened.

A few minutes later, I felt a tugging at my cuffed arm and heard the sound of movement next to me. My eyes shot open and I slapped my hand down over the gun. Sure enough, Judy's arm had been reaching for it.  
"Give me the gun Nick." I didn't look at her yet, but she sounded angry.  
"Judy, I want you to listen to me first."  
"Give me my gun back Nick!" she shouted. I forced myself to look at her. She looked furious. I didn't really know she could get this mad.

"I will Judy, I really will, but I need you to listen to me first. Listen to me for a minute, and I will give you the gun and even let you cuff me fully. But I need to make sure you won't alert the others first. Please Judy, give me a chance." I stared at her. I could see her trying to make up her mind on whether to trust me. Then she nodded.

She pulled the key to the cuffs out of her belt, and uncuffed her wrist. I put the cuff on my other wrist and slid her the gun. She got up and sat back down on the opposite side of the table.

"How is your head feeling?" I asked, a lame attempt to ease the tension in the air.  
"No games Nick, start talking." she replied shortly. Well it was worth a shot.

I took a deep breath. "I've been framed Judy. This whole thing is a huge set up. Fennick, my supplier told me."  
"A set up huh? Was that back room in your bar a set up? Was the collar disabling device also a set up?" She started to heat up. "You said that you ran a legal business! You made me feel like a complete bitch for accusing you! And look, I was totally correct wasn't I? You were just yet another shifty fox."

I fired back "You don't have any idea what you are talking about. You don't know what life is for predators like me. For foxes like me! Tell me, what the hell happened to you that made you hate foxes so much? Because I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on you that you were that type of person. So tell me, why the hell do you hate foxes so much?

We locked eyes. Slowly, she spoke. "You want to know why I hate foxes? Growing up on the farm back home, there was another farm in town run by a family of foxes. For as long as I can remember they hated us for whatever reason, and they constantly harassed us all the time. I always wondered why they hated us so much. So a year or so ago, I finally worked up the nerve to try to connect with a boy my age from their family. His name was Gideon. Gideon Grey. He had harassed me in the past, but when I talked to him he seemed very apologetic. He said that as a child he was simply going with the flow of the rest of his family, but he had no idea what they had against my family. "

She closed her eyes as though lost in her memories and continued. "We became friendly after that. We even started dating. I never knew what his family thought about us because we avoided them whenever we could. I thought perhaps he at least had honestly changed. We were together for about a few months. But then one week, there was a big event in the next town over. A farm competition of sorts. My parents and all my older siblings went to attend. I was the oldest of the family left to watch over the farm in their absence. A few days after they left, Gideon invited me to a movie. I told him that I couldn't go, that I had to watch over the farm, but he convinced me that surely nothing could go wrong in just a few hours. I figured he was right so I went with him.

And I enjoyed myself. We had a good time. We got dinner and then went to the movie. But during the movie, I got a call from one of my younger siblings. They told me a fire had broken out in the fields of the farm! I rushed home as fast as I could to see that half the field had gone up in flames. The firefighters were already there doing what they could, but the damage had been done. Half of our crops had gone up in smoke, just like that. I turned to Gideon, wondering how it had happened when I saw some of his siblings come up looking smug. I realized Gideon must have tried to get me away from the farm so his brothers could destroy it. I asked Gideon if that was true. He just turned around and walked away, without a word.

We were in pretty big trouble from that. We had a very rough year because half of our normal profits were just gone, like that. We managed to get by, but it was tough for all of us. And all because I thought that a fox could change his ways. Turns out I was wrong and my whole family paid for it."

And now she opened her eyes again and looked straight at me. "So that only strengthened my resolve to become a police officer, to stop criminals from causing others suffering. And to stop corruption within the system. The Greys got off scot free and the only reason I can think of is because money must have changed hands. They said it was just an accident and closed the case. I figured there wasn't much I could do in the Burrows, so I decided to move to Sunlight City to change things there. But it turns out, shock collars or not, there are always shifty foxes who only care about themselves!"

With that, she just stared at me. After a moment, I spoke. "So, what he did, it must have made you pretty mad, huh?"

"What?" She asked,"Hell yes it made me mad. Of course it made me mad!"  
"But really, if you think about it, it's not entirely his fault, is it now? You were partially to blame for what happened to the farm right? You were supposed to look after it, and you left to go spend a night on the town. So how much of your anger is really about the Greys and how much of it is about your own failings?"  
At this she looked furious. "You know what? Yeah, yeah I'm mad about my own screw ups. I'm really mad. I'm mad because I tried to trust someone who had only caused me grief in the past and I got screwed over. I'm mad because because I was so naive, I caused my family a year's worth of suffering. So yeah, I'm absolutely furious about the whole thing!"  
I replied, "Oh, that's good. That's good. You know, at least you can be angry. And I'm not meaning to diminish your problems, I'm sure you suffered from it. But you know what? At least you were able to be angry. At least being angry was a basic right that you were afforded."  
She looked confused. "What are you-"

"You see this?" I pointed at the collar around my neck." You are aware what it is right? What it does?" She nodded. "Whenever it detects a rise in anger or aggression, it gives a big ZAP to whoever is wearing it, forcing them to remain calm and collected. All the time."

"But you see, it doesn't just stop there. On top of the collars, you find that predators in general just have less rights than everyone else. Many places won't serve predators. Many jobs won't hire predators. Many that do put special restrictions on predators. And foxes, well, foxes just get it the worst. I can't walk down the God damn street without everyone turning their nose up at me. I can't get a decent job because nobody will hire a "Shifty fox". Hell, I can't even get an apartment, so I've been living out in this abandoned hell hole!" She looked uncomfortable. I continued on.

"But you know what the worst part is? I can't get angry about it. I'm not allowed to get angry about it. Because if I DO get angry about it, my collar goes off. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? And then it's and endless cycle!" I stood up. "I get angry about all the crap I've got to deal with, then I get angry because I'm getting shocked and it never ends! Do you have ANY idea how that feels?! ANY IDEA AT A- AAAAGH!" I doubled over in pain clutching my neck. My shock collar had chosen that convenient moment to come back to life.

I took a moment to catch my breath. I looked at Judy. She looked horrified. I said, as calmly as I could, "Do you know what it feels like to have to dull yourself to everything that happens to you, simply because not doing so is physically painful? We all have shit we deal with. Everyone one of us. And we all have stuff we can do nothing about. But at least most of us, all of you, can get angry about it. And from where I'm standing, a conflict between families sounds a lot more inviting than what I have to deal with." I sighed. I hadn't gotten shocked in a long time. I normally was better than this.

Judy seemed conflicted. "But that still doesn't change the fact that you are a criminal. You break the law with that club of yours. And because of that club, multiple predators went feral and who knows how many got into other parts of the city. That's on you, isn't it?  
I said, "You know why I started the club? My supplier, my friend, Fennick, had managed to acquire the collar disabling device. I tried it out, and it was the most liberating thing! I could feel just about any emotion I wanted! I could get angry! I could get in a fight! It was great! And I felt it would be selfish to keep such a device to myself."  
"So I created my bar, a place where predators could go and let out all the emotions they had been bottling up! But it wasn't about primal urges, that was just a gimmick to make it more "predator themed". It was just supposed to be one way for them to let out all the pent up anger and frustration they all had to deal with in their lives. But the truth is it could have been many other things. I just chose the hunting aspect because it seemed like the biggest middle finger I could think of to the establishment that had put us down."

She cut in, "But in the end, some of your clients DID go feral. So don't you think that means you were wrong?"

"No, because as I told you, I've been set up. I've run this club for 5 whole years, and not once has anything remotely like this happened. Fennick told me before he died that the shipment he had brought me tonight had been laced with something. I think whatever was in those drinks is what made my clients tonight go feral. But I have no idea what it could be."

She considered this for a moment. Then she said "Okay, but why did you take me hostage? Why didn't you just let us arrest you and then you could have told us all this back at the station?"

"Because, Fennick told me something else. That your friend, the elephant, was in on the blackmail against him. I have a bad feeling if he takes me in, I might not live to see another day." I stopped and looked at her. "Do you believe me?" She looked at me long and hard, I had no idea what she was thinking. But slowly, she nodded her head. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, I do have a lead to follow." I said, "Tomorrow night, Fennick was supposed to meet someone in the Tundra warehouse district who would take care of him. I suppose you could probably go to the meeting instead and arrest him or something. You could figure something ou-" I stopped suddenly. I heard something. Sounded like… cars!

Seconds later, 2 cop cars pulled up right outside the restaurant and officers got out and ran up to the window with their guns raised. I looked from them to Judy, only to see that her gun was raised against me too! I couldn't believe it!

But then she said in a low voice, "I do believe you Nick, so please just follow my lead. I am going to take care of this. Tusk isn't out there, so I think we can get you to the station safely, just don't do anything rash." And this point she called out to the other officers, "This is Officer Hopps, I have the suspect cuffed and under control, so no need to come in shooting! I am going to bring him out to you!" She looked at me. "Come on, you'll be fine."  
And with that we got up from the table. Me, still in cuffs, her pointing her gun at my back, and walked outside to where the police were waiting. Oh Judy, I really hope you've got a plan here.


	9. Chapter 9

After Nick was put into the back seat of one of the squad cars, I was taken back to my car, which I drove back to the station along with the others. After watching Nick be taken to the station's prison cells, I went straight for the Chief's office. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." I heard his voice say, so I did. The chief was sitting behind his desk and he gestured me to sit down before saying. "You have a good deal of explaining to do Hopps. What the hell happened out there tonight? Feral predators tearing across Happytown, escaping into other districts? This is a complete mess and you were there when it started. So tell me what happened.

I told him what had happened from the first disturbance to reaching Nick's club. "And then I found Mr. Wilde standing over his supplier's dead body, though I believe that it was a feral's doing, not his. Mr. Wilde says he has been framed, and to be honest sir, I believe him."

The chief held up a hand to stop me. "That's all very interesting Hopps, but it doesn't surprise me you feel that way. It was reported to me a few weeks ago that you had been seen in Mr. Wilde's company by one of your fellow officers. Can you explain what you were doing fraternizing with a fox while on duty? A fox that, as I understand it, is running an illegal operation?" I winced. So Tusk had reported me, had he? I could bring up my suspicions against him, but doing so right now would probably just make things worse.

"Sir, we were simply going to lunch during our breaks. There is nothing wrong with what we did, and I promise you at the time I had no idea about the illegal club he was running. He told me he was legitimate and I believed him."  
The chief shook his head. "You believed him, did you? You believed a fox that you met in the middle of a completely abandoned part of town? You really are not worth the effort Hopps."  
"Sir!" I said angrily "Yes I believed him sir, and I believe him about this as well! Please sir, he gave me a lead to follow, and I think-"

"No Hopps. The only thing you are going to be doing is riding a desk. I thought that putting you out in the middle of nowhere would keep you out of trouble, but somehow you still managed to find yourself in it. So from here on out, you are on desk duty."

I was shocked. "But sir! What about Nick- Mr. Wilde?"

"I have received orders from higher up that we are to bring Mr. Wilde in for prosecution. Not only did he run an illegal club, he is currently the only suspect we have as to why all the predators went feral. So we will be taking care of him. And YOU will have nothing to do with it. That is all Hopps.."  
"But sir-" I began.  
"That is all Hopps. Get out."  
I left the room reluctantly. I wasn't sure what I was gonna do, but I couldn't just let this go. I couldn't just leave Nick to rot. But what could I do? Only one idea came to mind, and I was really hoping it wouldn't be my only choice.

"Judy!" Clawhauser called out to me as I walked from the chief's office towards the other side of the station. "Judy, are you okay? You look upset."

"It's...it's nothing Clawhauser." I said glumly, walking to his desk.  
"Is it about the fox that was brought in? You know its not your fault about all the ferals that got out right? In fact if you hadn't been there to report it in, they might have gotten even further spread out before being rounded up. It's a good thing you were there." He was trying to cheer me up it was clear, but he clearly didn't see the whole picture.

"No, it's not about that. Well it's sort of about that. It's about the fox, Nick. I believe that he isn't responsible for what happened Clawhauser. And I want to get into the prison cells to talk to him. But I don't think I will really have clearance for that." He looked at me seriously.  
"You honestly think that? Why?" he asked quietly.

"It would take too long to explain, but the point is I do believe him. And I need to get in to see him."

"Well…" he said slowly, "I might be able to get you in for about 5 minutes. I can distract the prison guard for about that long to get you alone with him if you need to."

I was surprised to hear this. "Are you sure? I don't want to get you in trouble!"  
He shook his head. "It'll be fine, but you will have to be fast. Would be bad if you got caught in there without permission. Are you ready to go now?" I nodded.

We headed over to the prison cells, which were in a separate room of the precinct. I stood back for a minute while Clawhauser went in. I heard him say "Hey Jackson, the Chief wants to see you." A few moments later, Clawhauser came out followed by a ram. I slid in moments later.  
The prison block was rather small hallway, only about 10 cells, 5 on each side. I looked around quickly to find Nick and noticed a orange arm wrapped around one of the bars at the end of the hall. Nick! I looked to my right to see the office where that ram must work. I went in and found a key rack. Quickly counting in my head, I figured out Nick was cell 9 and got the appropriate key before running down the hall to where he was.  
"Oh hey Judy, thought you might have forgotten about me." He said with a grin. He looked tired but looked very happy to see me. He was still wearing his bloody clothes from earlier tonight. That would be an issue, but one to solve after we got to safety.  
"Let's save the hugs for later, I've only got a few minutes to get you out of here." He frowned at this.  
"Only a few min- what's going on? Is this okay for you to do?" he asked, looking concerned.  
"Let's just say things didn't go well with the chief," I said quickly as I fumbled with the key to Nick's cell, "but I don't have time to explain now, I've gotta get you out of here before-"

"Before someone shows up?" I jumped, dropping the key in the process. It landed outside of Nick's cell and bounced away a bit. I turned and saw to my horror that Tusk and his wolf partner were standing at the end of the hallway. Tusk had a smug looking smirk on his face, but his partner just stared off to the side.

"Officer Tusk!" I said, backing away from the cell. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing Hopps. From what I understand, you are supposed to be on desk duty now, a job which takes you nowhere near the cells. Much less with a key to this fox's cell." He started walking towards us. "Rather shifty."  
"Shifty my foot, I know the truth about you, Nick told me. You were one of the people who blackmailed his friend into causing this mess!" I said in anger.  
"Judy, what are you doing?" Nick hissed at me through the bars. I waved him down. Tusk laughed.  
"So that little furball turned on us before he croaked did he? Well yeah, I suppose we did blackmail him. It was his fault really, stealing a police issued collar disabler wasn't very smart."  
"What do you mean, police issued?" I gasped.  
"You really are dumb aren't you?" Tusk said, chuckling as he stopped about 10 feet from us. "Think about it. The police employs multiple predators, but they still wear their collars don't they?" He said as he jerked his hand towards his partner, who was still looking away. "They're not exactly much use on the force if they can't get aggressive now are they? So all teams that have predators in them are issued collar disabling devices so they can make use of their 'talents'."

I was confused. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"It's just because it's fun to let people in on the secret sometimes, you know? It's not like either of you are leaving here alive."

It took a moment for me to register what he just said. I looked at Nick and he looked back in horror. My mind was racing as the elephant began to walk towards me again, and I went with the first idea that came to mind. I pulled a pen out of my pocket, conveniently carrot shaped (I had a feeling in a calmer time, Nick would have given me hell over it) and said "Hold on, that isn't a good idea. I've already recorded everything you said on this. So if this gets out, everyone will know you are in on it."

The elephant stopped, looking concerned for a moment. I glanced at Nick who was wide eyed and shaking his head. I couldn't figure out why until Tusk said "Well in that case, just one more reason to kill you now." moments before he charged at me. Before I could react, his hand was around my neck as he lifted me up into the air, pinned against the wall.  
As I futilely struggled against his grip, I heard Nick yell "You stupid elephant, how are you going to explain a dead cop and prisoner in your own station? That's gonna stick out you know!" The elephant laughed.

"It's going to be a rather sad story. Officer Hopps naively let the criminal Nick Wilde out of his cell, only for him to turn on her and shoot her dead before being killed himself moments later. It's gonna have the city up in arms for sure." he said as he took the pistol out of my belt. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nick desperately trying to reach the key that was on the floor just out of reach. I was now struggling as hard as I could against his hand, but it was like an iron vice, there was nothing I could do. I felt Tusk place the barrel against my head. My mind went blank. Was this really it? All that just to end here?

I closed my eyes.

And then I heard a yell of pain as I was dropped to the ground. I opened my eyes again quickly to see Tusk squirming in place, clearly in pain. I realized what was happening and drew my taser and fired it at him as well. One taser might be enough to stagger such a big animal, but it would take 2 to take him down. He yelled and tried to resist, but moments later passed out and hit the floor with a loud thud.  
"Nick! You saved-" I looked over but Nick was still inside his cell, no taser in sight. Confused I looked down the hall. To my surprise, Tusk's partner, the wolf, had the taser in his hands. My mind was reeling.  
"Why…why did you help me?" I asked getting back to my feet. He shook his head.  
"The story of all those feral predators has already spread like wildfire. The morning has just started and new sites have blown up about it. People are scared about what this might mean for predators. And having a fox kill an officer in the middle of a police station wouldn't help that. It would just mean more bad news for predators like me." He looked at me, and then at Nick.  
"So you say that you were framed for this huh? I'm not sure I believe you, but I don't believe that all those predators just went randomly savage either. I think that this will all get covered up if you stay here, so I am going to look the other way. You are gonna be on your own."

I couldn't believe my ears! "So you are gonna let me and Nick go?"  
He nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me. "Make sure to read this when you get somewhere safe. Do what it says. That is unless you want us to find you again." I put the piece of paper in my pocket to look at later.  
I ran over to the key and used it to unlock Nick's cell. We began to head towards the exit to the prison block. Nick stopped and looked at the wolf. "What about you? Will you be okay?"  
The wolf said "Don't worry about me fox, the story is gonna be that you managed to get out of the cell and grab his taser." As he said this, he took Tusk's taser off Tusk's belt and put it on his own. So it'll be all your fault really." He sighed and said "Actually I need you to do one more thing before you go. I need you to hit me as hard as you can.  
Nick looked surprised. "What? Why would I do that?"  
"It would look suspicious if I was unharmed with Tusk passed out. Just punch me as hard as you can then get out of here."

Nick looked uncomfortable, but he walked over to the wolf, drew his fist back, and punched the wolf hard across the face, knocking him to the floor. A moment later, the wolf sat up.  
"Shit, that hurt. You got a mean right hook. Now get out of here!"  
Without further prompting, Nick and I left the prison block.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ok, so we are out of the prison, what now? They aren't exactly gonna let me walk out of here you know." We were looking through the window of the door leading back to the lobby of the station. Judy was so short I had to pick her up to get her up to window level. The station was mostly empty.  
Judy thought for a moment, and then said "Well we can try to just walk out. Maybe they won't realize what happened until we are gone?" Really Judy? That's the best you got? I looked at her in disbelief.  
"What do we do if they notice us? Because they are probably going to notice a guy in a bloodstained shirt trying to leave the station!"  
"Well if that happens, just take me hostage again. You've gotten some practice in with that already."  
"Ouch Judy, that hurts."  
"So does my forehead from where you hit me." She gave me a smirk, then looked back out the window more seriously. "Either way, we need to leave soon. Most of the officers haven't arrived yet, but they will soon and that will make getting out of here a lot more difficult, one way or another. Put me down and lets go."  
I set her down and she pushed the door open, with me following her closely. I tried to keep my head down and hands together. Maybe it would look like she was escorting me. We were about half way to the door when from behind us came a loud voice.  
"Officer Hopps is trying to help a prisoner escape!"  
I swung around to look, and staring at us from across the room, looking mad as hell, was that elephant Judy tasered. Damn, he recovered really fast.  
For a second, Judy and I just stood there as every face in the area turned towards us. Then Judy grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door. We burst through the front doors and ran down the road away from the station as fast as we could.

"Do you have a plan here or are we just running?" I asked Judy between breaths.  
"I have a plan…and right now its running." She panted back. Dammit Judy! You need to learn to think on your feet more.  
"Well I need to find a change of clothes, this bloody shirt sticks out like a sore thumb!" I said as we passed multiple onlookers. "And where are we going? Do you know?"

"I was hoping you might have an idea for that actually." She said, "But for now let's stop in this alley." We made a turn off the road into a dark alley and stopped to catch our breath. I decided it was time to lose the bloodied shirt, so I took it off and threw it into a garbage bin.

"So, Nick, do you have any ideas about where we can go? I think my apartment is probably out of the question, and we should try to lay low until the meeting tonight."  
"You really didn't think very far ahead with this plan did you?" I asked, shaking my head. Judy looked a little offended. "Well, I guess we can go to where I live, most of the time."  
"Won't that be as obvious as my place?" she asked frowning.  
"No because it's not exactly an official residence. It's in Happytown. I got multiple hideouts there, but this is my favorite one. But before we go, we need to get a car, and a change of clothes for you and me. We are going to stick out. Luckily I know a guy who is actually nearby."

"But I don't think it's a good idea for us to go back out on the streets right now, we are still sticking out." Judy said.  
"Oh don't worry." I said looking down at our feet. "It just so happens there is a manhole here. And I know the sewers around here like the back of my hand. Call it insurance." She looked disapproving.  
"You were expecting to get arrested?"  
"Never hurts to be prepared." I pried open the manhole cover and gestured towards it, "Ladies first."

Judy gave me an annoyed look, then climbed down into the sewer. I followed after her, closing the manhole lid after me.  
"Good Lord, it smells terrible down here!" Judy said from behind me. I turned around smirking at her.  
"Well yeah, it's a sewer. Of course it's gonna smell. And that's half the point of coming down here. The other cops could probably track our scent, especially with all that blood that was on me. Coming down here masks the scent and with no witnesses, they will have no idea which way we went.  
Sounding impressed, Judy said "You really did think all this through, didn't you?"  
"Of course I did. I'm a clever fox, I always think ahead. A skill you could work on admittingly," I turned around, "why did you tell him you recorded him? That might have been info you would want to keep close to your chest." She looked puzzled for a second, then realization apparently struck.  
"Oh that?" She pulled the pen out. "That was a bluff, this is just a normal pen."  
"A carrot shaped pen." I said unable to contain my smile. "You really are such a rabbit, you know?"  
"I knew you were gonna give me crap about it." She said smiling back.  
"So why even tell him you were recording him at all?" I said more seriously. "It just gave him another reason to want us dead you know?"  
"I panicked I guess. I was hoping that showing I had evidence against him would make him back down."  
I laughed. "Well you definitely guessed wrong there. I'm pretty sure if anything it's gonna make that dumb elephant more eager to stop us himself. But let's not worry about that, we gotta keep going."

We walked in silence for a while. I wasn't sure what else to say. I wish I knew what Judy was thinking about. This must be hard for her. She is now as much of a fugitive as I am. I'm sure that elephant told the rest of the police that she helped me escape, so they will be hunting her just as much as me. And it was my fault for dragging her into it. I didn't know what was best to say, but I felt I had to say something.

"Hey Judy?"  
"Yeah?" I heard from behind me.  
"Thank you for believing me."

And then we were back to silence. But that was alright.  
About 20 minutes later, after many twists and turns, I stopped. "Alright, up this ladder and then our stop is across the street." I said turning to look at Judy.  
"Are you sure?" she said looking a little skeptical. "That was a pretty winding route we took, are you sure you know where we are?"  
"Judy," I said in a joking tone as I climbed the ladder to the manhole, "I'm hurt. I know what I'm doing. And," I said as I pushed the cover off and took a look outside, "I know we are right where we need to be. Come on." I scrambled up onto the street, then waited for Judy to climb out too before pushing the cover back into place. We were in a warehouse district now. I looked around and saw the warehouse I was looking for and made a beeline towards it with Judy following me.

"So who is this friend we are meeting? Judy asked from behind me, clearly a little nervous.  
"Just an old acquaintance. She owes me a few favors." I said as I knocked on the door.

A minute later it opened to reveal a badger in a jumpsuit. She looked shocked. "Nick, is that you? What are you doing here?"  
"Hi Honey, it's nice to see you too. Can we come in?" I said pushing my way inside. Honey shut the door behind us.  
"Nick, seriously, why are you here? You are all over the news. You and that bunny you got with you. What did you two do?" She looked nervous. I tried to smile.  
"The full story would take a long time to tell, time we don't have. So instead I am going to call in that favor you owe me. I need a car. And I suppose a change of clothes for me and Judy here." Honey didn't look happy.  
"Dammit Nick, figures that you'd only come around when you needed something. Well I have a truck you can use in the shop. It's not ideal, but it'll work. And I'm sure I have clothes around here somewhere."  
"Thanks Honey, Judy'll owe you." Judy looked at me angrily. "What? Its two favors, and I'm giving up mine, so I figure it's only fair you take some of the debt."  
"Really Nick? You are such a fox." She said shaking her head, but I could see a small smile.

About 10 minutes later we were both in new clothes. Judy was folding up her uniform.  
"Judy, I dunno if you really need to bring your uniform with you. You probably won't need it you know."  
"I know, I just would feel bad leaving it behind and…wait, what's this?" She pulled a piece of paper out of one of the pockets of her uniform. "Oh yeah, that's right, that wolf gave me this. Said I should read it when I get the chance." She opened the note, and began reading.  
I turned to Honey and said "So you got the keys ready for us?" She was about to reply when Judy loudly said "Nick! Nick! You need to see this now!"  
I rushed over to her and took the paper she held to me to read it. At first it was just about how he knew some guys who worked on the device that deactivated collars, I started skipping through until I came upon a passage that caught my eye.  
"Oh shit. That's how they found us last time!" I said quietly, for I had just read that there was a small chip in my collar that emitted a small pulse that would let the police find us. It was small enough that they couldn't see everyone in the entire city, it only worked when they had detection devices nearby, but hiding out in Happytown wouldn't work at all as long as the chip was still active in the collar. We'd stick out horribly.  
"What are we going to do Judy? They will be able to find us!" I said to her nervously. She looked scared too, but then said "There is more isn't there? Let's keep reading." Good thing we did. There were instructions on how we could remove the chip from my collar, though it wouldn't remove the collar itself. Admittingly the instructions looked like Latin to me, but it just so happened we had a tech savy person in our midst.  
"Hey Honey? I think I am about to owe you a favor." I said to her. She didn't look happy.  
"Ok Nick, hold still, I am going to open the collar now." We were sitting in the shop room, next to a bench with a bunch of tools.  
"Just be careful Honey, I don't want you to break something and have the device go off or something." I said clutching the chair I was in. I was feeling nervous about this. But there was nothing for it, it had to be done. Judy sat next to me watching anxiously.  
"It'll be fine Nick, she seems like she knows what she's doing." She said, then turned to Honey, "You…you do know what you are doing right?" Honey snorted.  
"Of course I know what I'm doing, and Nick knows I know what I'm doing, I'm a professional. And these instructions are actually very straight forward. It'll just be a minute longer and then you will be all set."  
I admit I actually wasn't all that reassured feeling someone digging around on this leash around my neck. But a minute later I heard a clicking sound and Honey say "Aha, there we go."  
And then there was a huge WHAM that made both me and Judy jump. I wheeled around to look at Honey, who had a hammer in her hand. "What?" she said, "I was just destroying the chip. Wouldn't be good if it was still working."  
I sighed and so did Judy. "So the collar is all set then?" I asked Honey.  
"Yep, they won't be able to track you with it, though otherwise its exactly the same as it was before."  
I got up. "Thanks Honey, we both owe you one." Honey tossed me the keys.

"Go on and get out of here, you've taken enough time out of my day. Go on."

"Thanks Honey." Judy said as we walked towards the truck.  
I hopped in the driver's seat of the truck and Judy got in the passenger side. I started the car and we were off. It was about Noon by this point so we still had time to kill before the meeting. Knowing it was a bad idea to just be out and about til then, I decided to take Judy to where I live.  
I started driving towards my father's old shop in Happytown.


	11. Chapter 11

We rode mostly in silence. The trip was pretty uneventful and luckily we didn't see any cop cars along the way. I was still getting used to the change of clothes I was wearing. That badger is bigger than I am so it's a bit of a loose fit. I also had to keep my gun in my waistband. Might draw more attention to have a holster in plainclothes. I looked over at Nick every once in a while but he seems lost in thought so I don't say anything.

About an hour later, we are back in Happytown, abandoned shithole that it is. Nick said that he couldn't get an apartment anywhere else, but I sure would try to figure out a place to live that isn't here if it were me. Figures that even after all that happened yesterday, I would wind up coming back here yet again today. Even if the circumstances happen to be different this time.  
Nick turned the car into an alley. I look at him and he says "We should leave the car here and walk the rest of the way. There's a tarp here we can use to cover the car, don't wanna make it too easy for them to find us. A working car in the middle of Happytown would draw some attention."

So we covered up the car and then started walking down the road. It was starting to get a little awkward, talking so little. To break the silence more than anything, I asked "So…where is it we are going again exactly?"  
"My house. Well, I have multiple hideouts all over Happytown for variety, but this is my favorite one. It has a more personal attraction for me I guess."  
"What do you-" I began but he cut across me.

"It's right over there. On the corner of the block." I frowned but looked ahead. The area around here was extra crappy looking. The grass was growing everywhere, a trolley was broken down nearby, windows all shattered, and there was graffiti everywhere. I just didn't see the appeal. One of the buildings, a shop from the looks of it, was in particularly bad shape. The windows were all boarded up, covered in spray paint, and it looked like the sign had been ripped off, leaving an obvious blank space. To my surprise, Nick began walking directly towards it.  
"Are we really staying here?"  
He looked at me, a small smile on his face. "Oh, don't be so hard on the place. Besides, it's better on the inside. Come on, trust me." I stared at him for a moment, then sighed and followed him to the door.

Nick walked around to the side of the building, picked up a rock and grabbed a key from underneath it. He used it to open the front door, and he gestured me inside. I found myself in what looked like the front room of a small clothing store. There were multiple clothing racks, all with clothing on them. They were dusty though, as if they hadn't been moved in years. Though it was in better condition than I expected. Looks like the place hadn't been looted like everywhere else had. Nick came in from behind me and walked through the store.  
"This is just the front room, we are staying in the back area." I followed him past the counter and through a door into the back. There was a storage room with lots of boxes and a staircase. Nick began to climb it as I looked around for a moment. I followed him shortly.  
When I reached the top, room was completely dark. Nick walked a little ways away and flipped a switch, causing the lights to come on. And what I saw surprised me. What lay before me was a very well kept apartment. It was clean and there wasn't dust to be found anywhere. Nick didn't seem like the kind of guy to clean up a place like this to me, but I guess he was just a bundle of surprises wasn't he?  
I walked into what seemed to be a living area connected to a kitchen. There was a couch and an old TV, decades old from the looks of it. The windows were boarded from the outside, but the glass was still intact from the inside.  
"So, what do you think?" I turned to look at Nick after he said this. He was walking over smirking. He sat down on the couch. "Like I said, not so bad right?" I returned a smirk back.  
"Yeah, I expected you to be a complete slob, but this is actually pretty nice." I sat down on the couch next to him. Looking around more, I noticed a plank of wood lying against one of the walls. It looked like there was writing on it. I craned my head sideways to see what it said.

John Wilde Formal Wear

"John Wilde?" I turned to Nick quickly. "Nick, is this where your parents used to live?" He frowned and got up.  
"Ugh, if I knew I was going to be having company, I would have put that away." He muttered as he walked over to the piece of wood. "I didn't want you to see that."  
"Why not?" I asked getting up. "Why didn't you want me to see that?"

He put a hand on the plank, and while staring at it asked "Do you know the history of Sunlight City? The reason for the collars and Happytown and…and all this shit?" I felt a little uncomfortable. I was wondering if I should just drop it, but at the same time I did want to hear more.  
"Uh, I know it happened right before I was born, but I never really paid attention in social studies class." I said. He gave a laugh and looked at me, eye raised.  
"Social studies huh? Well, lemme give you a quick history lesson then." He looked at the plank of wood again, then walked back to the couch and sat down.  
"So", he began "it all started about 26 years ago. At that time, collars weren't a thing yet. There was tension between predators and prey, but we all still got along as well as we could. Then there was a well-publicized attack on an up and coming politician's daughter. It… it was all over the news, horrible stuff. And it just so happened the politician was a sheep and the attacker was a lion. This didn't help matters at all. The town went into an uproar. And the politician, named Bellwether, began a furious campaign to get justice for her daughter." That name rang a bell in my mind.  
"Bellwether? As in, the Mayor Bellwether of Sunlight City?" I asked.  
"The very same." He continued. "So, unrest was growing in our fair city, and this is where my family comes into the picture. We were living in this very apartment, in the once thriving district of Happytown. My father was a respected tailor, he sold a variety of clothing, but he was a masterful suit tailor. And as you probably figured out by now, downstairs was his shop. Our family's shop. He was great at the craftsmanship aspect, but my mom was the real business mind of the shop. She was the one who did all the pricing and money management. Had a mind for that sort of thing. They were a great team and even the fact they were foxes didn't hamper peoples' trust in them. And they were the best parents I could ask for. They were always there for me whenever I needed them." He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and continued.

"Anyway, that was our situation around when the attack happened. After it happened, Bellwether lead a charge to place restrictions on predators. Restrictions on what jobs we could take, requirements that we all be tagged and kept track of, all sorts of things. It enraged the general predator population. There were protests, oh man were there protests. Always at least one just down the street for months. My mom began to take a more active role in them as time went on. She always said that we couldn't just let them treat us like lesser animals. My dad, who wasn't that confrontational, always stayed at home with me whenever she went. I was always scared that something might happen, but he always promised me that she would be okay, that because of people like her, this whole thing would eventually blow over. That nothing bad would happen. And for a while, he was right. Until he wasn't."  
"About 6 months after the protests started, something happened. To this day nobody really knows what sparked it, but all hell just broke loose. It was another protest my mom was at. The official story is that predators at the rally got angry and started attacking the police causing them to fight back, but I don't know if I really believe that."

"Either way, a riot broke out. It was all over Happytown." He took a deep breath. "I don't think I've ever been as scared as I was when it happened. Went on for 3 days nonstop. Constant noise. Sounds of breaking windows, people shouting, gunshots. My dad and I stayed inside for the whole first day, waiting for mom to get back. We stayed upstairs in the apartment, just waiting. My dad was constantly assuring me that my mom was going to be fine, she was no doubt safe somewhere. But as the day went on, I could tell that he was becoming more and more worried himself. After about a whole day had passed, he told me he was going to look for mom. He told me to stay inside until he got back. He said he loved me and then he left. And… and then..." His voice began to quiver. He looked sadder than I had ever seen him.

"Nick, you don't have to keep going. I think I understand." I said. But he shook his head.  
"No, I wanna say the whole thing." He took a moment to calm himself, then continued. "So I did as he said. I waited. I waited for 2 more days, all by myself in this apartment. The noise outside quieted down a lot, but still I stayed inside, out of loyalty to my dad or fear, I don't know. But after 2 days, I heard the front door open downstairs. I ran downstairs, hoping to God that it was my parents. That they had come home safetly."

"But all I found was two police officers. They told me to come with them. I told them I couldn't, I was waiting for my parents to come back, that I had to wait here until they got back. But they told me that my parents wouldn't be coming back. They told me that my parents were…dead." His voice sounded hollow as he stopped. I had no idea what I could possibly say, so I just waited for him to continue. A minute later he did continue.  
"I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. They couldn't be dead. They couldn't be. I told the cops they were wrong, but they just said I had to come with them. I refused, I told them I had to stay here until my parents got back. I tried to run away from them back up to the apartment. But they were large fully grown men and I was an 8 year old child. I wasn't able to put up much of a fight."

"They took me to a place with a bunch of other kids to stay. An orphanage I guess. I was completely despondent, I couldn't cope with the idea that my parents were dead. And to make matters worse, one of the other kids who was there accused my parents of being partially responsible for the riots, said they were killed because they attacked innocent people. I beat the shit out of that kid, but that didn't endear me much to anyone else there, and later I found out that my parents were officially cited as rioters."

"I could do nothing but stew in all the sadness and anger I had building up in me. I was mad at all those other kids for alienating me, I was mad at my parents for leaving me here, I was mad at myself for not doing something to help when I could have. And I was really mad at the thought that my parents were partially responsible for everything that had happened."  
"While I wallowed in my misery, more changes happened in the city. The riot had been a huge mess. There were many deaths, both citizen and police, both predator and prey. This spurred even more laws to be enacted, led by Bellwether, to get control over predators. That was when these things were introduced." He said, pointing at the collar around his neck.  
"And the next few years of my life were hell. So much anger about everything, and no way to let it out. I honestly might have exploded if I hadn't found out how my parents actually died. I ran into a friend of my parents who had been in the riots. He told me everything he saw, that…well the details don't matter, but he told me enough to know my parents hadn't been rioters. They just got caught up in the chaos and..." he hesitated, "you know."  
"Anyway, it didn't change my current situation much, but it did give me peace of mind to know my parents didn't go out as criminals. I was still mad at them for leaving me alone to this mess, and I suppose I still am. But suddenly a lot of stuff didn't seem to cause me as much grief anymore. I could stand it. I could just let it go. And well, here I am." He looked at me, a clearly forced grin on his face. "Sorry for that boring tale…Judy, are you okay?" He looked concerned.  
I had tears running down my face. When had that happened? I didn't know. But I got up and walked over to Nick. And I hugged him. "I'm sorry Nick. I'm really sorry. About what happened to you then. What's happening now. For everything. I'm sorry."

"Judy…Judy it's alright. I'm fine." He said. Then he pushed me off to arm's length and gave me a smile. "Seriously. It's fine. It's all fine. And none of it is your fault, so I don't know why you are apologizing.

I sat back down on the couch next to him, wiping my eyes. He gave me an odd look and then said. "Hey look, I'm pretty sure you're tired, I know I sure am. Haven't gotten any sleep since the night before last, and we got a big night ahead of us, so how about we just take a nap for now. In fact, I think that is just what I'm gonna do. You can sleep on the couch if you want, I got extra blankets. I nodded and he got up and walked over to a closet on the other side of the room.  
He gave me some blankets and a pillow and then left the room, presumably to his room. I laid down on the couch and took out my phone. All Nick's talk about his family made me think about my own. I just realized, I might never see them again if this goes south. They could already be labeling me a criminal, helping a suspect go on the run. I have no idea what is even going on in the news right now. Well, I suppose now is as good a time to call as any. I dialed a number.  
Ring…ring…ring…"Hello?"  
"Hi mom."  
"Hey Judy, how are you doing? You haven't called in a few days. Everything okay?"  
"Yeah, everything is going great. Just fine." I lied. Perhaps she knew.  
"Judy, you know we are always going to be here for you right? If you ever need anything, we are here for you. We love you no matter what."  
"I know mom. And I just want you to know, whatever happens in the- whatever happens, I love you and dad too."  
"Well…that's good to know. So, is there anything you wanted to talk about in particular?"  
"No, I was just checking in, I gotta get back to- to work."  
"Alright sweetie, I understand. We actually had something we wanted to tell you too, but that can wait until you have free time. I'm sure your dad will want to be around for you to hear it too. When do you think you will be free?"  
"I…I don't know. Maybe tomorrow?"  
"Alright, I'll try to set it up for then."  
"I love you mom."  
"I love you too Judy."  
I hung up and dropped the phone to my side. Well at least I had talked to mom one last time. But I shouldn't think like that, we were gonna get through this. It was going to be fine.  
With that thought, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry about the delay, had life stuff going on. I might edit this chapter later, but we'll see. Hope it doesn't suck too much.**

I listened to Judy's conversation with her mom through the door. I know I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but I couldn't resist. Now I wish I had. Shit. I was so caught up in my problems that I hadn't even thought of what all this is going to do to her life. She's probably already been branded a criminal just like me, and I didn't even stop to think about that for a second. I should apologize to her that, for getting her in this mess. But would that just seem self-serving? Insincere? I don't know. But I should do something.

Later at least, right now I need to get some sleep. I walk over to my bed and lie down on it. I still sleep in the same room I slept in as a child. Good thing the bed was an adult sized one from the start, I wouldn't like having to lug a bed all the way in here. But sleeping anywhere else just wouldn't feel right. I had told Judy that due to being a fox, I wasn't able to get an apartment anywhere else, but that wasn't quite true. Well not completely, it is damn hard for a fox to find a place that will keep them, even among predator communities, but the truth is I hadn't tried that hard. There was something about this place that always drew me back. Maybe part of me is still just a little kid waiting for his parents to come home. Maybe I'm just sentimental. I dunno. All I know is that this place was one of the few things that really kept me tethered here to Sunlight City. The only place I really can call home. With those thoughts on my mind, I slid off into sleep.  
*BANG BANG*

"Hey Nick, we should go. It's like an hour or so until the meeting is supposed to happen."  
I open my eyes and groggily get out of bed. Man, sleep is so nice.

*BANG*

"Are you awake?"  
I yawn. "Yeah, yeah, I'm awake, I'm coming." I open the door to find Judy pacing back and forth. She looked at me with a nervous glance.

"Judy, you gotta calm down. It's gonna be fine. We go to the meeting with this Moose that Fennick told me about, and we get some answers. What could go wrong?" I gave her a reassuring smile. She tried to smile back but it seemed rather strained.

About 10 minutes later we were back in the car heading towards the Tundra district. Fennick had said he was supposed to meet the moose in the warehouse district there. It occurred to me that the moose might have already been told that Fennick was dead and the meeting was off, but as we didn't have anything else to go on, I kept the thought to myself, hoping that perhaps the elephant was too incompetent to call him about it.

We reached the warehouses and parked the car. Damn, it's really cold here. My fur is long enough that I'm not too cold, but looking at Judy, I see she's shivering pretty hard.  
"Hey Judy, you okay there?" I ask.  
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." She said, though her teeth were chattering loud enough that I could hear them. "Should have grabbed a jacket or something at that badger's place, but oh well. Let's go meet our man."  
As we walked into one of the warehouse facilities where we were told to go, I noticed Judy's hand was hanging out behind her back.

"Judy," I said, making her jump at the sound, "you don't need to keep your hand on your gun like that. You're making me nervous."  
She looked at me annoyed and said "Well this silence is making me nervous. Feels like there should be more people around here." But her hand dropped back to her side.  
I said consolingly "Its nighttime Judy, I'm sure most of the workers have gone home. Probably why the meeting was so late, to avoid any potential intrusions. Ok, I think it should be just around this corner-"  
Then I stopped talking because I heard a voice around said corner. I looked at Judy, who gave a nod towards the corner. She crouched down and looked around. I leaned over her and did the same. Down the alley was a moose talking on his phone.  
"Really Tusk? Really? You knew our informant was dead since yesterday and you are just bothering to tell me now?" the moose said angrily into the phone. A few seconds passed before he growled "What? Others know about this and you are just telling me? They could be coming here any moment!"

A few moments passed.  
"WHAT?!" he yelled, not even containing his voice at all, "YOU TOLD THEM WHAT? Were you dropped on your Goddamn head as a baby? Why would you say all of that? They can use that against us, especially if they recorded you like they said." He started walking our way. "I've got to leave before they get here- oh shit."  
At that moment, Judy leaped out in front of the moose. Dammit, well I guess we would have been revealed in a moment anyway. I stepped out too.

Judy said "You should hang up the phone. Right now." She pulled out her pistol as if to make the point. The moose complied. "And drop it." He dropped the phone into the snow.

"What do you want? Money? I'll give you my wallet!" the moose said nervously.  
"Drop the act moose, we heard everything and we know everything. And I know you know that too." Judy said tensely, gun still at her side.

"What do I know? That he" the moose jerked his head towards me, "runs an illegal club and I simply helped a client who wanted to do the right thing and put a stop to it? I haven't done anything wrong. I've just been a middleman here."

I spoke up, "Sure, middleman, just like Officer Tusk, the upstanding elephant who tried to kill Judy and me after blabbing about everything? We heard you talking to him on the phone. You are in on it just as much as he is. And we want answers."  
He looked slightly shaken but said "What answers could I possibly give you? You know the story. My informant Fennick told us about the illegal club you were running, and then he got cold feet and told you that he told us. And then tragically multiple predators went savage and killed him before we could raid the place to stop your actions. If you hadn't been disabling their collars, this would never have happened."  
The nerve of this man, to accuse me of all this! Of causing Fennick's death! I would have punched him right there, but a certain metal device wrapped around my neck made me hold my ground.

I swallowed my anger and said as calmly as I could, "That's a load of bull. Before he died, Fennick told me that you gave him a supply of tainted drinks to sell me. They are what caused those predators to go feral, not anything I did."

Judy chimed in here "And he got those drinks from you guys. So why don't you tell us what you know?" She began walking towards him, keeping the gun clearly visible to him.  
The moose looked nervous now. His poker face sucked, he clearly wasn't ready for this sort of interrogation. Which is good because that means we should be able to get the info we need and get out of here before that dumb elephant arrives. Surely even he isn't dense enough to ignore that call ending so suddenly.

"Y-y-you've got nothing on me. This isn't legal at all. I'm n-not going to say a thing!" he stammered as Judy drew close. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to eye level, forcing him to his knees.  
"You realize I'm not acting under official orders here right? That went out the window when I busted him out." She pointed a thumb back at me. "So you better think twice if you think legality is gonna stop us from getting answers." She took the gun and pressed it against his shoulder. I wasn't sure whether she was be serious about this and I didn't really like it, but now seemed like the wrong time to second guess her. "So what do you know?"

The moose was shaking now. "L-look, I'll tell you what I know. No need to do anything hasty." He stuttered. "This goes high up. Really high up, I'm not sure how high really. They were wanting to create more anti-predator tension. Public opinion has been shifting on the matter of the shock collars, and rallies by big names have popped up all over the place. They wanted something to happen that would turn opinion back in the opposite direction. Nothing too drastic, but something to remind the citizens why the collars exist! But I don't know who is in charge!"  
Judy frowned and pressed the barrel of the gun harder into the moose's shoulder. I grabbed her shoulder. "Judy, I think that's all he knows."  
She looked at me quickly, then put the gun down and pushed the moose backwards, sending him on his back. She said "Fine, let's go." and turned around to leave. I take a glance at the moose who is starting to get up, and follow her quickly.  
"Are you okay Judy?" I ask quietly.  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
"Are you sure? That was a bit much back there."  
"I wasn't actually going to shoot him. It was just a way to get him to talk."

"Fair enough. Still, try to reign it in a bit will you? Don't want something to happen we can't take back. You've still got a career waiting for you if we solve this. Said career will be gone if you start shooting people." She gave an incredulous smirk at this.

"A career? That's funny. I imagine I'll probably be back to patrolling the dead city if I get out of this one."  
We reached the car and got in. I said "If it's true that this goes high up, who knows, maybe this will prove to the chief that you are the real deal. Anyway, my point is you've got your whole life ahead of you. You don't wanna throw it away like that." I started the car and pulled out. "Now let's get out of here. Who knows how long until Tusk gets here."  
"Tusk? Why do you think Tusk would show up?" Judy asked. I notice in the rear view mirror that the moose is now staring at us from a distance. Welp, we better leave now. I hit the gas.  
"Ha, I guess detective work probably isn't in your future." I chuckle as I turn my eyes to the road ahead of me. "That moose hung up on him in the middle of a conversation right as he was talking about us showing up. Doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, and Tusk's ass is on the line as much as that moose's ass is. I bet he's speeding over here right now, so we're gonna wanna be somewhere else like now.

While heading towards the edge of the Tundra district, I keep an eye out nervously for any signs of cop cars. Perhaps in my paranoia, I just start to notice the cameras all around. There are a lot of cameras around the city now that I think about it. But this is a fresh car, they don't know who it belongs to so I doubt they will be able to track us.  
Will they? I start to mull over this when Judy's voice grabs my attention.  
"Nick?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for all of this. For everything I mean. Past and present. And possibly future. This is all so unfair to you. And I was part of it." So she was still upset about that huh? Perhaps what the moose said had gotten to her. Dang it Judy, you are so soft hearted.  
"Don't apologize. Seriously. All this has got nothing to do with you. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should apologize." She looked at me surprised. "It's all my fault you were dragged into this. You broke me out of the police station. You are probably being considered a criminal just like me, and that's not fair to you at all. So I'm the one who should be sorry here." I hesitated for a moment, then said "And Judy? Thank you for everything." She looked at me with a sad smile on her face and nodded.  
"But enough of that serious talk, how about that moose huh? He was shaking in his boots when you pulled that gun on him…"  
We discussed what the moose had told us all the way back to Happytown. We parked and covered the car, then walked back to the apartment. It was pretty late, but I was starving, and I could tell Judy was too, so I pulled some prepackaged meals out of my fridge and heated them up. They kinda sucked, but food is food.

After eating, we decided it would be a good idea to call it a night. I bid Judy goodnight and climbed into my bed. Sleep came rather easily.  
*CRASH*  
I shot up. There was a loud noise downstairs. Looters? No, what are the chances of that?  
I crossed over to the door, and opened it quietly. Judy was already standing up, gun in hand, she glanced at me then looked back towards the direction of the stairs.  
I walked over to the window to see if there was a car outside. What I saw made my heart pound.  
There was a police car right outside.


	13. An apology

Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated in a good long time. I'm sorry about that. I've had a lot on my plate and I don't know if I'll be able to continue this in the forseeable future. I don't know if anyone cares anymore, but for those of you who do I wanna say I'm sorry.

I'm not the kind of guy who would want you to be stuck forever on a cliffhanger, so I will give a general outline of what the rest of the story would have been. Don't read past here if you don't wanna be spoiled on the chance I do come back and finish this (I do hope to in the future). If you are okay with spoilers, read on. Sorry again.

Officer Tusk and the wolf who was gonna be Wolford found Nick and Judy's hideout. Tusk plans to kill them, and to flush them out of the upstairs, he throws a molotov cocktail through the upper window into the living area, setting the place ablaze. Nick is horrified and dragged downstairs by Judy. He tries to attack Tusk but his collar goes off, allowing Tusk to knock him out. Judy fights him with some success as the fire spreads downstairs. However she gets overwhelmed and nearly killed by Tusk. However, she manages to ask Wolford, who had been standing back the whole fight, for help and at the last moment he tasers Tusk again, allowing Judy to do the same again knocking him out. They cuff him and drag him and Nick out of the building.

Nick was gonna be overcome with grief that his parents' house that was his last connection to them was burned down and prepared to go on the run. Judy convinces him that he shouldn't leave, at least not while hes still a fugitive, but says she will stand by him until the end. She talks with Wolford who says that he wasn't really privy to what Tusk knows, but he knows something is up and that they should talk to chief Bogo. Judy calls Clawhauser who helps set up a secret meeting with Bogo.

Once he arrives to where they are, things are tense between the two but she manages to convince him that something is up and that she thinks Tusk has the answers. Luckily she has an idea. Tusk is still under the impression that she recorded him talking about how he was gonna kill them at the police station so she tells him when he wakes up that she already showed it to Bogo and that he needs to give up his boss or else hes screwed. He tells them everything he knows and that his boss works in Bellwether's office, the mayor of Sunlight City.

At this point we would get a chapter from Bellwether's perspective, showing how society is reacting to all the current events. New protests to give predators more rights, the outbreak of feral predators from Nick's bar, and we would see how she feels about everything. We would also go more into depth about the events from her past that led her to where she is now. We would also meet her assistant who would have pretty clear anti-predator views. The chapter would end with Bellwether getting a call from Bogo.

Judy, Nick, and Bogo would go to confront Bellwether about the feral predators, but she would have no idea what they are talking about. They find out that her assistant has been working behind her back to keep predators down, and Bellwether, though biased against predators after what happened to her, was honestly doing what she thought was best for the city and had no secret agendas.

Bellwether's assistant tries to run but Nick and Judy catch her and arrest her. Bellwether resigns feeling she has probably done more harm than good. Multiple anti-predator laws get repealed, including the collars.

Nick avoids being prosecuted for running an illegal club due to his part in uncovering the conspiracy. Judy gains Bogo's respect and gets normal police work. Nick decides to leave Sunlight City because there are too many negative feelings now. Judy decides she is going to stay because she feels leaving now that things are starting to change would be giving up, and she feels that even more good can be done. Neither has any negative feelings towards each other, and even months later they are still in touch. Nick is running a new bar in a small town somewhere and the story ends with him calling her asking if she could take a vacation to visit him.

There was also going to be wrapping up the subplot about Gideon somewhere in there. Judy's parents wanted to talk to her because Gideon came to them to apologize saying he was going to turn himself in for being part of the group that burned down their fields. He wanted to apologize to Judy specifically since he made her complicit. Judy's parents already forgave him and try to convince him to not turn himself in. Judy agrees with them and forgives Gideon for everything.

Anyway, that was the gist of the rest of the story. Sorry that I'm ending it like this for now. Maybe in the future I will come back and properly write the ending. And if the conclusion here seems rushed, I'm sorry for that too. I only outlined to after they escaped the police station. Turns out writing a mystery might not have been the best idea for a first story. Lots of elements to think of that I didn't think of, and you gotta know how its gonna end in advance if you want the mystery to be any good.

Anyway, sorry Im ending it like this. Hopefully its just for now.


End file.
